The New Zealand medical journal
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Comparative Study
Passing the buck: clinical handovers at a tertiary hospital.
To survey house officers and nurses regarding timing, structure and content of clinical handover and compare these results. Secondary aims included the development of an 'on-call' sheet and the development of guidelines for handovers from the results collated. ⋯ In this study, we identified that health professionals perceive that clinical problems can be attributed to poor clinical handover. The majority of respondents in the study felt that an effective handover system should include a set location for handover, a standardised 'on-call' sheet and training related to handovers.
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To estimate the effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening with faecal occult blood testing (FOBT), flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS), and combinations of FOBT and FS in preventing colorectal cancer (CRC) deaths. ⋯ There is high-quality evidence showing that guaiac-based FOBT screening reduces mortality from CRC. No such evidence exists for screening with FS either alone, or in combination with FOBT, but this should be re-evaluated once data become available from four large ongoing trials.
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Comparative Study
Punitive parenting practices of contemporary young parents.
To describe the punitive parenting practices of a cohort of young (<25 years) New Zealand parents and to examine the life course risk factors that placed these parents at increased risk of severe child physical punishment/abuse. ⋯ The use of physical punishment and more severe forms of physical assault/abuse are relatively common amongst contemporary young parents. Implications of study findings for social policy aimed at reducing levels of family violence in New Zealand are considered.
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Comparative Study
The influence of hospital environment on postoperative length of stay following major colorectal surgery.
Elective colorectal resection is associated with a postoperative stay (LOS) of 7-10 days. Counties Manukau District Health Board (DHB) has two sites for elective colorectal surgery: Manukau Surgery Centre (MSC)-a stand-alone elective surgical site; and Middlemore Hospital (MMH)-a general hospital. MSC opened in 2001 and it was noted that patients recovered more quickly there than patients operated on at MMH. It was thus our aim to identify if LOS following major elective colorectal surgery is influenced by hospital environment. ⋯ Because MSC and MMH are both part of the same DHB, share the same surgeons, and service an identical population, it can be concluded that environmental differences are likely to be influential in the recovery process. However, further research is required to elucidate the significance of individual factors.
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Comparative Study
Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use in Christchurch, New Zealand: children attending general practice versus paediatric outpatients.
There is little information about the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in New Zealand children who attend a general practitioner for intercurrent illness compared to children attending secondary care with a chronic condition where CAM use is high. This study aims to establish whether there are differences in prevalence and non-disclosure rates, information sources, and potential predictors of CAM use in these two populations of children. ⋯ CAM-use amongst New Zealand children is higher, and disclosure rates lower, when compared to overseas populations of children. This suggests that there is greater potential for New Zealand children to be at risk of adverse events directly and through interaction with prescribed medicines. Contrary to expectations, CAM-use behaviours and disclosure rates are comparable between GP and outpatient populations--suggesting that all prescribers need to explicitly ask parents about CAM-use with their children, particularly those that report CAM-use themselves.